The Backyardigans – High Flying Adventures (Nickelodeon/Paramount DVD)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: C
Nickelodeon
seems interested lately in re-pushing their whole cavalcade of children’s
programming and though that is good for a young audience, it also shows the
weakness in some of their productions, like The Backyardigans offered here in a single DVD called High Flying Adventures. Well, this one loses altitude very quickly.
They
sing, they are CG animated and they did not leave a big impression with
me. They may be child safe, yet I was
only so impressed the four shows here (Fly
Girl, Who Goes There?, What’s Bugging You?, Chicken-Itza Pizza) are mild, yet there
are one too many times when they seem to be talking at their audience or are
louder than they need to be, like a bad TV toy ad hitting children over the
head with marketing. Too bad, because
that age group has enough to deal with.
The 1.33
X 1 image is from analog NTSC video and looks like it with weak detail, odd color
and some consistency, while the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is loud enough, if not
great by any means. Two superfluous
Music Videos are the only extra.
- Nicholas Sheffo